NHL broadcast deal turns sour for Rogers
Viewership dips as Canadian teams shut out
MONTREAL• Go rd Cutler isn’t the reason why Carey Price missed most of the season with a knee injury.
Cutler has nothing to do with the dysfunctional management that has plagued the Toronto Maple Leafs for more than a decade.
And you can’t blame him for the Edmonton Oilers’ failure to take advantage of a string of No. 1 overall draft picks.
But Cutler became the fall guy when all seven Canadian NHL teams missed the playoffs. He was the senior vicepresident in charge of NHL production for Sportsnet until he was fired this week in the latest step of a costcutting program.
The folks at Rogers must be having second thoughts about its $5.2-billion, 12-year deal for the Canadian rights to NHL games. Viewership is down 16 per cent from last season, which can be blamed on the poor showing of the Canadian franchises. But how do you explain a similar dip from the 2013-14 season — the last season CBC had the exclusive lock on Saturday- night games — to Rogers’ first season in 201415? Those declines came in a season that saw five Canadian teams in the post- season.
The decline in ratings has skewed the network’s business plan because it has resulted in decreased ad revenues. When the numbers fall short of expectations, the networks are forced to offer make-goods — free ads to make up for the smaller audiences. These ads don’t bring in any revenue and, in fact, take away from inventory that might have been sold.
Cutler’ s dismissal followed a number of other cuts in Rogers’ hockey operations and there are some nervous people wondering about future cutbacks.
One possible casualty is the regional English- language coverage of Canadiens games on Sportsnet East. There’s one season remaining on the deal, but costcutting has already affected the production. There is no on-site host and the production is based in Toronto. The ratings are reportedly good, although they are dwarfed by the numbers for RDS and both are down from last season.
Rogers’ woes will intensify in the playoffs. An Angus Reid poll this week indicates a drop in interest among fans because there are no Canadian teams in the playoffs. Fifty- one per cent of the respondents said they would pay less attention to the playoffs; among diehard fans, that number jumps to 59 per cent.
With no Canadian team in the mix, the poll indicated the favourite team for fans in Canada is the defending Stanley Cup- champion Chicago Blackhawks.
It has been 23 years since the Montreal Canadiens were the last Canadian team to win the Cup and 26 per cent of the respondents believe the Canadiens have the best chance of breaking the slump in the future.
That’s a realistic assumption because this season’s team was an injured goaltender away from the playoffs.
We should note that Rogers isn’t alone in feeling the pinch from the Canadian drought. TVA Sports, which spent a lot of money to get the French- language rights, depends on the playoffs to make money because it takes a back seat to RDS in the regular season.
With its reach limited to Quebec, it depends on the Canadiens to draw an audience in the post-season.
TVA is also waiting for its parent company, Québecor, to bring an NHL team to Quebec City. While the NHL has set a minimum price tag of $500 million for an expansion team and has a framework for an expansion draft, all the signs indicate that Las Vegas is first in line for a new team.